Head First
by brittanablog
Summary: Set just after 2x06, Alex and Maggie both try to navigate the world after The Kiss. Maggie begins to realize that she made a mistake, but it seems as though Alex has no intentions of forgiving or forgetting.
1. Chapter 1

Sanvers

Alex's eyes cracked open, but immediately slammed shut again when confronted with the shining light of day streaming in through her bedroom windows. She reached out and felt around on her nightstand, finally finding her power cord and following it to the floor, where she had apparently left her phone the night before. She squinted at the screen, noting the 9:43 at the top. Her eyes bulged and she leapt out of the bed, realizing exactly how late she was for work.

She immediately regretted moving so quickly, as the enormity of her hangout settled squarely behind her eyes in the form of a jack hammer.

"Oh god…" she lurched toward the bathroom and unceremoniously threw-up. "Oh god," she repeated, resting her cheek on the cool tile floor of the bathroom.

As Alex closed her eyes, blips of scenes from the prior 24-hours flashed on the back of her eyelids:

 _Maggie telling her, "You're real, and you deserve to have a real, full, happy life."  
Alex telling Kara about being gay and liking Maggie "so much."  
Kara encouraging her to "go get" Maggie.  
Seeing Maggie.  
Telling Maggie she came out to Kara.  
Hugging Maggie.  
Kissing Maggie.  
Being rejected by Maggie.  
Drinking about Maggie.  
Being humiliated by Maggie.  
Spilling to Kara about Maggie.  
Kara hugging her, because of Maggie.  
Crying herself to sleep over Maggie._

Everything was _Maggie_ and all of a sudden, everything felt raw again. She closed her eyes, willing the visions of Maggie's surprised and pitied face out of her head.

Twenty (or thirty) minutes later, Alex startled back awake to the sound of her phone vibrating on the floor next to her face.

 **Kara** : **Are you still sleeping, beauty?**

Alex rolled her eyes at Kara's typically cheesy text, and typed out a quick response, squeezing one eye shut while she tried to focus her hangover on the tiny buttons on the phone.

 **Alex: Up about half an hour. U at DEO? Will be in soon. Cover w Hank.**

She groaned as she planted her palms on the floor and pushed herself to her feet, daring to turn toward the mirror. It took but a fraction of a second for Alex to realize she looked about as good as she felt. Her face was pale and her eyes bloodshot and outlined with dark circles. Her hair was unkempt and greasy, plastered partially to one cheek. Just as she started to peel off her clothes so she could jump in the shower, Alex's phone buzzed again.

 **Kara: You're not coming in. Told Hank you're sick already… if you come now I'll look like a liar.**

Alex groaned. She had _never_ taken a sick day in her life. But she appreciated that Kara had been looking out for her.

 **Kara: Also, there's a present on the kitchen counter.**

Alex grinned, guessing already that Kara had brought her donuts. She padded groggily to the kitchen, immediately noticing the white paper bag and a note.

 _A-  
Hope you don't feel like complete death. Take the day… I've got you. But you only get one day, so you better use it wisely. I expect you back by my side tomorrow and kicking ass. I'll be by tonight to check on you—and tell you about a new op. __  
-K  
PS: Iced coffee in the fridge.  
_  
Alex grinned and lunged for the door of the fridge, taking a long, satisfying sip of a perfect iced coffee and shoving one of the two donuts Kara had left her in her mouth. She was sufficiently intrigued about the new op Kara was promising her, but knew she wouldn't hear anything until Kara came over—which would be hours from then.

Alex took another look at the coffee in her hand, glanced at the note telling her to take the day off, and smiled slightly. If she was being forced to stay home, she'd at least take advantage of it. She put the coffee back in the fridge, pulled her curtains tight, and dove back into bed, burying her face in her pillow.

[TWO WEEKS LATER]  
-

Maggie slipped the edge of her flathead screwdriver into the corner of the window screen and popped it out, easily. She did the same to the small, rectangular window and soon was shimmying down into the cold, damp, concrete-lined cellar. She glanced around, flipping on a light switch in the corner that was connected to a single bulb suspended from the ceiling. To her relief, she quickly spotted her laptop in the corner, still plugged in and ready to go.

Maggie had been in this same room but a week prior after completing the initial recon for the night's mission. She fired up the laptop and curled up in the corner as she swiftly logged in through three different security screens. Finally, she accessed a video hub with eight different video feeds, all operational.

"Perfect," she said to herself.

Maggie deftly scrolled through the video feeds, waiting for the action to start and ensuring all of the video equipment was working properly. It was 6:45, so it would likely be an hour or so before the party hit full swing, but guests started arriving shortly after Maggie started monitoring the mansion. Soon enough, Maxwell Lord entered the frame of the video by the front door, greeting his guests one-by-one as they arrived.

"And there's King Douche… promptly on time…" she chuckled to herself as she wrote down the names of as many arriving guests as she could identify.

Maggie was grateful for this op, one in which she could fully commit herself and dive in, and not be distracted by the depressing mess that had been her personal life since Alex had kissed her more than two weeks before.

She had just begun to really, truly enjoy having the agent around, and depended on her, rather than booze or sex, as a way to level herself out. Alex was comfortable and soothing; she was the first person Maggie had ever been friends with who understood her job and with whom she could be completely honest. She didn't have to put on with Alex. In fact, Alex didn't tolerate that. When Maggie put up her walls, when she tried to hide her disappointment or fear behind sarcasm or wit, Alex called her out. She liked that—a lot.

So when Alex came out to her, and then subsequently kissed her, she knew she had to stop it, despite all internal desires to the contrary. She couldn't let Alex become just a woman she dated. She couldn't let Alex be another woman she let down. She just couldn't let Alex become something other than what she was at exactly that moment—her one and only friend.

Of course, Maggie hadn't fully prepared herself or her heart for the look of pure devastation on Alex's face. She hadn't thought about the fact that she would be destroying Alex either way.

And she had tried to make it right since then—she had really tried. But her calls went unanswered and her texts went unread. It wasn't until Maggie ran into Supergirl at a crime scene two days ago that she was able to even confirm that Alex was physically okay and unharmed.

" _Hey… ummm… Supergirl,"_ Maggie had asked, hesitantly .

" _Yes, Detective?"_ she responded with clear uninterest.

" _Uh, I was just… I was just wondering how Alex was? She hasn't been answering…."_

" _I know she hasn't,"_ the super hero cut her off. _"She doesn't want to."_

" _But she's fine,"_ she added, clearly after seeing the look of concern and sadness that had crossed Maggie's face.

" _She is?"_ Maggie had asked, hopefully.

" _Yeah. No thanks to you."_

She had flown away after that, leaving Maggie to stew in her own sadness.

Maggie literally shook her head, trying to rid herself of those distracting thoughts, and refocusing on the operation at hand. More and more people were filing into the party by then, and she really needed to keep track of the guest list.

Shortly after 7:30, as Maggie's eyes continued to scan all of the frames of video looking for anything out of the ordinary, she froze. Maggie's eyes locked on the front door feed in the top right of her four-video split-screen. Her view was partially obscured by Max as he wrapped his arm around the waist of the woman who had just crossed the threshold, but Maggie would have recognized her anywhere. The dark green dress hugged her hips and legs with a practiced precision, and Maggie caught a glimpse of dark brown curls gracing the woman's bare shoulders.

Without a doubt, Alex Danvers had arrived.

Maggie's jaw clenched, involuntarily, as Maxwell Lord continued to run his hand along Alex's lower back, guiding her through the room and introducing her to a few people. Maggie watched with rapt attention, hoping desperately that her perception of the situation was off; that somehow, the obvious relationship between Maxwell and Alex was not what it seemed.

With little fanfare, Maggie had completely forgotten all of the other video feeds. She followed Alex from room to room, guiding the cameras where necessary, so that she didn't miss a single step or movement. It was immediately clear that Alex was Max's date, as he flagged down a waiter to grab two champagne flutes for them, and he refused to leave her side. To Maggie's horror, Alex did not seem to mind, even leaning into some of Max's more obvious and obnoxious physical advances: an arm around her waist, a hand around her wrist; a kiss on her cheek—her jaw. Maggie grew more and more nauseous with every gesture between the two, certain that she had it all wrong.

 _Alex was gay, right? That's what she told you not two weeks ago? When she kissed you?_

Almost twenty minutes went by with Maggie continually failing to monitor the house at large, like she had been tasked to do. It wasn't until there was an obvious commotion (a dropped and broken glass) in another room that Maggie realized that she couldn't focus solely on the feed that followed Alex.

Despite her determination to keep an eye on the whole party, as intended, Maggie found that her gaze continued to drift to the beautiful woman in the dark green strapless dress. After a while, she and Max moved to the main ballroom where a band in the corner serenaded the guests with songs that spanned several decades. Alex and Max joined the other dozen or so couples who were dancing, and Maggie again found it impossible to focus on her job.

The natural intimacy between Alex and Max floored her. Their hips melted together, like they were built for each other. Alex's arms draped over Maxwell's shoulders as they danced, her finger nails tracing their way through the faded nape of Max's hair, as if she had been doing so for years. For all Maggie knew, she had.

Maggie tried to ignore the way her stomach curled over itself and her limbs felt simultaneously like lead and as if they were weightless. Her jealousy consumed her, and she recognized as much.

Maggie's focus on her mission continued to wane over the next few hours, still unceremoniously following Alex's movements throughout the party. She watched as Alex chatted, effortlessly, with National City's movers and shakers, and even more effortlessly as she continually drifted towards Maxwell, seemingly drawn to him by force. She hated how she could see—even through the grainy video feeds—how Alex's eyes sparkled while she laughed at some joke Maxwell told her, and how her finger tips traced the edges of Max's belt inside his suit jacket.

Eventually, they returned to the ballroom and began dancing again. Maggie's brow furrowed as she watched Alex react to Max's whispers over the top of her ear, subtly closing her eyes and leaning into Maxwell's touch. When Maxwell pulled Alex's face towards his with hands framing both sides of her jaw, and he planted a long, wet kiss onto her lips, Maggie grew nauseous. Alex's smile lit up the frame as they pulled apart, and she leaned forward to whisper into Maxwell's opposite ear.

Maggie couldn't keep watching this.

She disgustedly reached for the control, about to zoom away from the pair when she was suddenly engulfed in blackness.

Maggie panicked, uncertain for a moment exactly what had happened before realizing that all of the power had been cut. Her feeds had gone dead, as had the overhead light in the server room. Knowing that she may have been compromised, Maggie immediately shut her laptop, depriving herself of the last meager source of light, and enveloping her in pure darkness.

Maggie set the laptop back on the ledge where she had left it and felt along the side wall so that she was positioned behind the door. If someone was coming in there, she would be ready.

She stood motionless for a few moments; the only sound she could hear was the deep thudding of her own heart inside her chest. It had been years since Maggie had been caught on a covert mission.

Just as she was starting to think it may have been a coincidence, and began to relax, she heard slow, faint footsteps outside the door. Whoever was there was trying to avoid detection. Maggie braced herself. She still couldn't see anything in the darkness, but she heard the slight sound of the metal door latch moving against the frame as the knob was turned. The door opened towards Maggie and she instantly leapt into action. She grabbed the forearm attached to the door handle and twisted it behind the invader's back, shoving them face-forward towards the opposite wall. She felt the person begin to struggle under her grasp, but she had the upper hand and the element of surprise.

Maggie squeezed harder and jammed her knee into the back of a thigh, further pinning the assailant into the wall. After a slight struggle, Maggie finally pressed her full weight against the intruder and used her free arm to press her forearm into the back of their neck to be certain they weren't going anywhere.

"If you move a single fucking inch, I'll snap this wrist," she threatened, pulling the hand even further behind their back.

"… Maggie?" she heard, earnestly, in a whisper.

Maggie froze.

She stared, demanding her eyes to focus and adjust to the darkness; desperately trying to see who she held against the wall, pressed into with complete authority.

"Maggie, is that you?"

The question pierced the silence and broke the darkness, almost as if it were itself a light bulb. Maggie's eyes suddenly came into focus on the jaw line of the woman she had pinned against the cold cement cellar walls.

 _Alex Danvers._

Suddenly Maggie was keenly aware of how the front of her body was pressed into Alex's back, chest expanding against her back as she breathed and they both processed the encounter.

Finally, Maggie stepped back and released her hold on Alex, still silent.

Maggie's eyes began to further adjust, and she took in the outline of Alex's stealth form shaped by her dress as she turned away from the wall and towards Maggie. She brought her free hand around and rubbed over the wrist Maggie had twisted behind her back, attempting to soothe it.

Maggie pressed forward, taking Alex's injured wrist between both hands.

"Alex, I'm… I'm so sorry, I didn't know who… I didn't expect you… Are you okay?" she asked, trying to mask her concern.

Alex tried to be unaffected by the way Maggie's thumbs slid over her wrist where her pulse throbbed through the tender skin.

"Ummm… yeah… I'm, I'm fine, Maggie," she said, gently.

Maggie forced herself to look up and make eye contact with Alex, eyes glistening in the faint shine of the moon that lilted in through the small window at the ceiling of the cellar. Their eyes had both focused in the darkness, and they stood there silently, each taking in the other woman in front of them for the first time in weeks, as their hands ghosted over the wrists and palms of the other.

A minute passed, and then another. Neither dared break the spell that had fallen over them. Finally, Alex took in a deep breath, and spoke.

"Maggie, what are you doing here? Why are you in here?"

Maggie paused for a moment, debating how much information she should share with Alex. She quickly opted for the complete truth. She took in a deep breath, still holding Alex's hand and wrist in her own.

"Almost two weeks ago, we received an anonymous tip that a contingency of rogue aliens intended to break into Maxwell Lord's business to hack his server and steal some of his technology—including…"

Maggie paused, realizing the implications of part of their intelligence.

"Including what, Maggie?" Alex pressed.

"… including a formula he's developed to make synthetic kryptonite."

Maggie knew that the DEO had real kryptonite under lock and key, but had obviously recognized that the ability for any bad guy to make a synthetic version put Supergirl at grave risk. And Maggie knew that Supergirl meant a great deal to Alex, even if she didn't fully understand the nature of their relationship.

"Okay…" Alex said, seemingly unfazed. Maggie realized she had to continue her explanation.

"So we went to Maxwell. We told him what we knew, and asked him to allow us to investigate and set up a sting. He refused. He said he'd take care of it himself. But… but Alex we couldn't allow that. That's not good enough. And this isn't just about some rich guy getting his invention stolen… this… this could be really dangerous for Supergirl and for National City."

She took a breath, expecting Alex to express some gratitude. But when Alex silently removed her arm from Maggie's grasp and just continued to stare at her, Maggie took a breath and spoke again.

"So, we initiated our own operation, without Max's help. I came in here last week while we knew he was away and stashed a half dozen cameras around the mansion, and I plugged into his server down here so I could monitor them on a low frequency signal. We figured that whoever intended to hack Lord's server would have to do it manually by breaking into this server room—his security is too good, otherwise."

"So you've been spying on Max's party?" Alex asked, coolly, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Alex, it's not like that, I've…"

"No, it's exactly like that, Maggie. You hid cameras around a civilian's house, and then have been spying on him and his guests during a social engagement."

Maggie just stared at Alex, unable to process her reaction.

"You seem shockingly unconcerned about the possibility of synthetic kryptonite getting out, Alex."

"And you seem shockingly concerned about things that don't concern you, Maggie," Alex responded, sharply.

Maggie paused for a moment, and then exhaled. "Alex, what are _you_ doing here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… as I've acknowledged, I've been watching most of this party," Maggie paused, uncertain if she should continue. "So… What are you doing, Alex? With Max?" she almost breathed the last question.

"Why do you care?" Alex snapped.

"I just… I just know what you said to me, Alex, and… it seems like this isn't…. it isn't what's right for you, Alex."

"And you think you're the right person to tell me what's right for me?"

"Well… no, I just…"

"No. Stop it."

"What?" Maggie asked, sheepishly.

"Just stop it, Maggie. You don't get to tell me what is right for me."

"No, that's not what I'm…"

"Stop it. Just stop it." She held a hand up in the air, palm towards Maggie. "I'm going to talk now, and you're going to just stand there and listen."

Maggie nodded, crossing her own arms, defensively.

"You walked me to the edge, Maggie." Alex took a deep breath. Maggie waited in pure silence.

"I stood at the edge of the steepest, sharpest, most terrifying cliff I had ever seen. And I looked down, and there you were. And you were looking up at me with your beautiful smile, and your shimmering eyes, and… and those fucking dimples that always show up when I least expected it, and… and made my knees give way just a little bit every time." Alex took a shaky breath.

"And I got lost in those eyes. And I clung to every word you said. And those words were comforting and encouraging and… and they were the exact words that no one had ever said but I had always needed to hear. You told me that I could jump; you told me that it was safe to jump, Maggie."

Maggie's eyes didn't leave Alex as she started to pace slightly, and ran her fingers through her perfectly curled hair. Alex stopped, reconnecting their eyes and starting again.

"And I looked at every rock that stuck out from that cliff, and I tried to avoid jumping—to cling to anything I could that would mean that I didn't have to leave the top of that cliff. But there was nothing left there for me. There was only you, and you were standing there at the bottom of the cliff with your arms wide open and your lips telling me that it would be okay. You told me to jump, Maggie. And I _believed you_."

Those last two words almost broke Maggie, as Alex's voice faltered and her eyes slipped close in the darkness as she exposed herself, emotionally, to the woman in front of her.

"And so I opened my eyes, and I looked down at your open arms and your open smile, and I dove head first. I didn't even step off; I dove head first—straight for you, Maggie. And when I dove I closed my eyes, and I felt so free and so… so _happy_. And then I opened my eyes, and you had moved. You weren't there to catch me anymore."

Maggie could hear Alex's voice crack again, and she forced herself to look away, to avoid seeing Alex break.

But Alex was having none of it. She took a strong step forward and placed one hand on Maggie's cheek, forcing Maggie's eyes to meet her own.

"So I crashed, Maggie. I dove head first for you, but you moved. And I crashed and shattered into a million pieces. So you…"

Alex took another deep breath.

"So you don't get to judge how I put myself back together," she said, mustering up as much confidence as she could manage before letting her hand drop abruptly from Maggie's face. The cold of the cellar immediately replaced the warmth of Alex's hand on Maggie's cheek. "You don't get to judge who I use to put those millions of pieces back together." Maggie almost didn't recognize the venom that seeped through Alex's whispered words.

Maggie's shoulders deflated. "So… you _are_ with Maxwell Lord?" she asked, hesitantly.

"You've been spying on his party all night, Maggie. I trust you can answer that for yourself."

Maggie's chin dropped to her chest as she fought back the tears forming in her eyes.

"Now get the hell out of here, Sawyer. Take your computer. Don't come back, and don't mess with Max again."

Maggie looked at her, confused.

"This is your one and only chance to get out of here without Max knowing what you were doing," Alex stressed.

For a split second, Maggie saw promise in Alex's pleading eyes. She realized that Alex was trying to protect her, despite all the pain Alex had just laid bare.

"You have less than 60 seconds, Sawyer," Alex repeated.

And instantly, Maggie knew she had to react. Alex would sell her out if she wasn't long gone. Maggie snatched her laptop and pulled the power cord from the wall, scrambling up the step ladder to the partially exposed window at the top of the ceiling that she had slipped in through. She pushed one leg through, and just as she was about to duck totally out of the server room, she chanced another glance at Alex. For a fleeting moment, she thought she saw something there again. But Alex promptly turned on her heel out the door she came in through, and Maggie strode the rest of the way out into the night. A few steps away from the Lord mansion, she turned down a side street to her parked car, and couldn't help but notice the light flicker back on in the server room she had just abandoned.


	2. Chapter 2

Maggie slurped the last bit of her cold coffee from the stained mug on her desk, silently pleading for the caffeine to alleviate some of her pounding headache. She popped a few Advil and swallowed them dry, too lazy to get up and get some water.

If you asked, Maggie would have denied that she got drunk the night before in an effort to quell the pit in her stomach from her confrontation with Alex. She would deny it, but she would know she was lying.

The entire ride on her bike from the Lord house to her apartment, Maggie was positively vibrating with anxiety and confusion and something else she couldn't quite identify. She had cracked open a beer before she'd even taken off her riding boots or unholstered her gun, and after downing it in two sloppy gulps, she switched to bourbon. She fought off her racing heartbeat at the feeling of having Alex pressed up against the wall, just like she fought off the nausea of the images of Alex with Maxwell. When she realized how futile her fighting was, she poured another double and resigned herself to simply drinking until she could no longer remember.

In the harsh light of day, as she tried to plod through the video that she hadn't been able to watch live the night before, Maggie regretted the last two bourbons. Now, her literal job required her to re-live the previous night as she scrolled through the hours of unseen video footage—and she had to do it with a splitting headache.

Maggie tried to log the guests she had missed and focus on anything other than the way Alex's hips swayed with the sound of the music while she danced throughout the night. Or the way her eyes lit up when she laughed. She tried, but she failed. She couldn't get her mind off Alex.

Thankfully, Maggie's desk police scanner crackled with a call. "Shots fired behind the NC Market on the east side. Repeat—shots fired. All available detectives report."

Maggie grabbed her jacket and bolted for the door. "Sawyer, wait up!" a gruff voice behind her called. Maggie didn't break stride—she needed this case to distract her, so she had to be the first detective on the scene. Her bike roared out of the lot as soon as she mounted it, and she blew between lanes of traffic towards the Market.

Maggie's bike whipped sideways as she peeled into the parking lot, jumping off and pulling her gun, scanning the area for any sign of life or danger. She heard sirens in the distance, and knew back-up wasn't far behind, but she was the first cop on the scene. She ducked between cars and cleared the lot, quadrant by quadrant, without seeing any signs of anyone. Just as she was about to call in that there was no one at the lot, quick footsteps approached Maggie from the rear, but she spun too late. The distinctive sound of gun fire blasted her ear drums, and she dove behind a car, all too aware that she heard a bullet or two whiz by her head. She angled around the car, trying to get a glimpse of where the shots were coming from.

Sirens got louder as other officers approached the scene, and soon Maggie heard squealing tires as they spun into lot. She crouched behind the car and made her way toward the trunk in an effort to signal the other officers that there was still an active shooter, but before she could grab their attention, she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her right side as she fell to the concrete. All she could see was red.

An undetermined amount of time later, Maggie woke up to bright lights and hushed voices. She strained to focus her eyes, but her neck was too stiff to turn.

"Hello?" she croaked out. "Where am I?"

She struggled to sit up but was stopped with a firm hand on her shoulder and Supergirl looking down on her.

"Glad to see you're awake, Detective. You're at the DEO. You were… almost shot, but you're okay. You have a few broken ribs, a mild concussion, and we're monitoring you for internal bleeding. Should be able to get out of here today."

"Almost shot? If I wasn't shot, what happened? And… and why am I at the DEO?"

"The only reason you weren't shot is because I knocked you out of the way and shielded you with my cape. Sorry, but I'm the one who knocked you out and broke your ribs," the super hero twisted her face up, apologetically.

"But it was either that or let you get shot—so the choice was easy."

"Was… was that guy an alien?"

"Actually… no. I was out looking for you, and figured an active crime scene was a good place to start. Little did I know you were going to have been such an _idiot_ and have gone there alone. Your back up took the guy in after I melted his gun, and I flew you here for medical attention." She paused and looked around. "Like I said, you should be able to go home today."

Maggie nodded, slowly taking it all in, but then registered what Supergirl had said. "Wait, why were you looking for me?"

"Oh, right." Supergirl's face turned hard and serious. "I'm going to need all of the tapes you took last night. The originals and every copy you made."

"What? No way—you're crazy!"

Supergirl just stared her down, arms crossed.

"I… wait, aren't you even a little bit concerned about the threatened breach at Lord's house? Aren't _you_ the one with the most to lose if this synthetic kryptonite gets out?"

"You're right; I sure am. Which is why you need to let me handle this."

"But… Alex said she…"

"What _Agent Danvers_ may or may not have said to you last night regarding these tapes is irrelevant. I'm here now, and I'm telling you I need the tapes. Am I making myself clear, or does your boss need to find out about your unauthorized covert op where you completely ignored the 4th Amendment?"

Maggie sighed and shook her head. She was so confused. "Look… just… just promise me two things."

Supergirl stared at her, making no assurances.

"First, you'll let me know if I can help—at all." She paused, awaiting a reaction. None came.

"And second… Will you…? No, nevermind." Maggie forced herself off the hospital bed and pulled her boots that she found in the corner. "Meet me on the roof of the precinct building in an hour. I'll have your tapes for you."

She stopped in the doorway and spoke again to Supergirl without turning around.

"And thanks… for… for saving me."

An hour later, Maggie sat on the edge of the roof, feet firmly planted on the inside of the wall's edge, rather than dangling over like she normally did. One brush with death was enough for the day. She fidgeted with the shoulder strap on the NCPD-issue bag filled with hard drives. She sighed—she couldn't believe she was giving these up.

Right on time, a blue streak crossed the National City skyline and then Supergirl was hovering a few feet off the roof, hands on her hips and a glare in her eye.

"Are those my tapes, Sawyer?"

"As much as I hate this, yes. They are. Mind telling me why you won't let me follow-up on this tip? I've had the DEO steal cases from me before, but I've never been shut out like this. Is this about Alex?"

"Alex is none of your concern, Detective."

Maggie didn't miss Supergirl's cold tone.

"Yeah, no kidding. She's made that crystal clear." Maggie scoffed and reached forward with the bag, handing it off.

"What do you mean?" Supergirl asked as she reached for the bag's strap.

"Does it really matter what I mean at this point? Take the tapes… I hope they help, or… or don't. Depending on whatever it is you plan on doing with them." She turned on her heels and started toward the access door back down into the police station.

"Maggie, wait."

She stopped and slowly turned around. "What?" she asked, dejectedly.

"Earlier, at the DEO, you said you had two favors, but you only named the first one. What was the second?"

"It doesn't matter…" Maggie shook her head.

"It matters to me. What was it?"

Maggie took in a deep breath. "Just… please tell Alex I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything, and… and she was right last night. I'm in no position to question anything about who she dates. So tell her I'm sorry, and I hope Maxwell makes her happy."

Supergirl's face scrunched up in confusion.

"Or… or don't tell her. It's up to you. See ya around, Supergirl." And with that, Maggie hauled open the large metal door and descended into the building, leaving a very confused Supergirl on the roof with a bag full of hard drives.

"Is this one the only one so far?" Alex asked.

"It's the only one that's been uploaded. It just happened a few hours ago, Alex… I'm sure a lot of officers don't even do their paperwork on the same day, much less within hours of the incident."

Alex was obsessively reading the police report Winn had hacked off the NCPD server, trying to get a better understanding of what had happened earlier—of what had happened to Maggie. She had been at her desk at the DEO when Kara flew in with Maggie in her arms, screaming about a medical bay. Kara had held her out of the room, and refused to let her see her when she woke up.

" _It's for your own good, Alex."_ Kara had said.

Kara hadn't given her much information to go on, other than that she stumbled on the scene where Maggie was taking gun fire, and she had stepped in and knocked her out of the way of the bullet before nabbing the would-be robber and handing him over to the other officers. So far, only one rookie officer had filed her report, and it was completely lacking in details. It was driving Alex insane.

As Alex read the narrative for the third time, still trying to glean any new bit of information that she could, she heard Kara's voice from behind.

"Winn… I got the videos. I'm going to need to you to run facial recognition against everyone you can for a full guest list, pronto." She plopped the black bag onto the floor by the tech analyst and immediately turned towards Alex.

"And you—I'm going to need to talk to you in private. Like, now."

Alex felt herself be lifted from her chair and all but carried to their sparring ring, where Kara pulled the large sliding metal door closed behind them.

Kara turned on her heels, arms crossed and glaring at her sister, letting several moments pass without saying anything.

"Okay, Kara, if you keep looking at me like that, I'm pretty sure you're going to literally light me on fire. What gives?"

"I don't know, Alex. You tell me! Ohhhh, boy! YOU. TELL. ME. What gives?!" Kara was never good with confrontation, particularly with Alex, so she sputtered through some threatening gestures, pacing around the sparring ring, but ultimately looked ridiculous.

"What? Kara, what is going on? What are you talking about?"

"What did you tell Maggie last night?"

Alex stopped, breath hitching at the mere mention of the woman's name.

"What… what do you mean?"

"She seems to be under the impression that you are actually _dating_ Maxwell Lord?!" Kara's arms went wide, palms up, and her eyes bugged out of her head as she comically gestured at Alex to highlight the absurdity of such a concept.

Alex sighed. "Oh… right. That."

'Yes, _that_ , Alex! What the hell?"

"Look… I mean, what does it matter what she thinks? She doesn't like me, so who cares?"

"I care, Alex. And you care. And, believe it or not, _Maggie cares_. And whatever you said to her last night has her really broken up. I didn't think she could muster an ounce of humility, but she… she was _broken_ Alex. Broken at the knowledge that she's hurt you. And she asked me to apologize for her and tell you that she's _happy for you with Maxwell if he makes you happy._ "

Alex just stared at her.

"So… you want to tell me what happened last night?"

Alex shrugged, and then crumpled onto the floor of the sparring ring and spilled every gory detail to her sister.

"So let me get this straight. Or… _not so straight_ —" Kara giggled at her own pun. Alex rolled her eyes. "You went to investigate the source of the signal on the cameras your guys found at Lord's, and ended up getting pinned against the wall and your hand held by the woman you're totally crushing on, who was apparently giving you _bedroom eyes_ at the time, and your reaction was to push her away and let her think you were on an actual date with Maxwell?"

"Well when you put it that way…." Alex buried her face in her hands. "I just… I was so thrown by her being there, and then the way she was _looking at me_ when she thought she had hurt me… I just… I couldn't let myself go there again, Kara. I had to create space. So I lashed out."

Alex exhaled, shaking her head.

"And to be honest? Everything I said, I meant—well, except the Max stuff. She really, truly hurt me, and it felt _good_ to tell her what she did to me."

Kara reached out to her sister, wrapping her fingers over her shoulder and squeezing while Alex buried her face further into her hands. They stayed like that, silent, for several minutes. Both appreciating their sister's closeness.

"What do I do, Kara?" Alex asked, softly.

Just as Kara opened her mouth to speak, Winn skidded into the doorway. "Umm… you guys are going to want to see this," he said, eyebrows raising up into his forehead and throwing his thumb over his shoulder back toward the command center.

They looked at each other and smiled.

"First, we go see what whiz-kid found in Maggie's videos. Then—then you go talk to Maggie. Up to you what it's about, but you can't ice her out forever."

Alex nodded, bringing Kara in for a hug.

Winn coughed in the doorway, and both girls rolled their eyes.

"We're coming!" they yelled, simultaneously.


End file.
